Musical eating bowl



Oct. 11, 1949.

J-P.MAHAN MUSICAL EATING BOWL Filed Jan. 16, 1948 Inventor l6 JeannePicard Mahan MWW EM Patented Oct. 11, 1949 UNIT ED smras PAT ENT OFFl-CE .MUs'I cA'LI; EATINGIBOWL Jeanne Picard Mahan, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application January 16, 1948; Serial No. 2,790

10 Glaims.

"'I'liis' invention relates to new and usefuliimprovements' in eatingbowls and the primary ob "ofthe'presentinventionis'to'provideaneatbowlthat is sodesigned as'to sound a musicar alarm as thefoo'd in the bowlis consumed to a predetermined point, thus delighting and amusing theperson; and helpfully aiding and' encouraging the-training ofthe'personto'eat from thebowl;

.Another object oft'he present inventionisto provide a' musicaleatingbowl includinga music box and novel and improved means" for actuatingthem'us'ic'boxas food in thebowl is'consumedi Ano'therobject ofthepresent inventionis'to provide" a -musioal eating bowl includin'ga re- 1bodyi-ng novel and-improvedmeans for: adjusting the-actuating means sothat the same will be' r'esponsive to a predetermined quantity offOQdPG-r moved from the bowl;

A further obi ect' of -the present invention. isito provide amus-icaheatingbowLthe par-ts ofxwhi'ch I are quickly and readilyassembled or disassembled facilitating the convenient inspection .'ofparts, the cleaning or replacement of par-ts, .or the storage orshipmentv of the same.-

.Astill furtheraim of the present inventionis to provide a. musicaleating bowl that isssimpleand practical.inconstr-uction, strong andreliable in use, small and compact in structure, neat and-attractive inappearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwisewelladapted for the purposesfor which the same isintended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as morefully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had-to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the present invention, and showing theeating dish removed therefrom;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the planeof s'ection'lin'e'Z-J of Figure 1; and showing the eating dishin sectionapplied thereto;

Figure .3 is a. sectional'view taken subs'tantialh 2V onthe plane ofbroken section line 3--3 ofFigurel;

Figure is a perspective v-iew'of the musical box braking arm actuatingmeans used iii-con.- junctionwi-th the present invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view-ofthe'present invention in assembledform; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of thepivotaland rockable connectingmeans used in conjunction with the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings -in' detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of thepre seritinvention, the numeral Iii represents'a sleevelike body or casing openat both it s'upper end I-2 and its lower end l4.- 7 I Fixedlysecuredtothe inner periphery of the body laadjacent'the lower e'n'd'thereof, isa plurality of circumferentially' spaced support strips [6, the upperedges of whichare' coplanar and are spacedparallelto'the lower end l4and'upper end'lZ-of the body It, to frictionally-support a preferablyannular supporting plate or base plate I8. Struck upwardly from thesupporting plate' I8, is a substantially rectangular guide plate 20having a central opening 22 therein fora purpose that will'later'be morefully described. Also, preferably struck upwardly from the supportingplate I8, is a bearing orstop p1ate2'4, theu'pper edge 26 of which isspaced'relative to the braking arm 28 of a conventional, preferablyrectangular music box. 20, preferably of the wind type, that'is suitablyfixed on theinner'or upper face of the supporting plate l8;

Thenumeral 32' represents generally, the lever member used inconjunction with the present invention foractuating the braking arm 28;This lever member 32 comprises a substantially'cha'nnel-shaped' element34, the web portion 36' of which is integrally formed with an elongatedouter lever'or' arm ilfi'having' a downwardly flaredreducede'n'd 40",and athrea'ded'portion 42 adjacent the end All. Integrall-y formed withand pro jecting'io'utwardly from the web portion 36. in an oppositedirectionfror'n arm'tt, is a contact lever or arm 43, thelon'gitudin'alaxis of whichisipreferablyspaced parallel tothelongitudinal axis ofa'rin38, so that one corner of the music'boii 311 may be positionedrelatively close to the arm- "43 and clia'nioel-sha'ped' element 34',with the;free end of the contact arm 43 disposed beneath the brak ingarm. 28 and normally, frictionally engaging the upper edge 26 of thestopplate 24.-

Depending from the centralportion of a preferably annularpressure'plateor movable supporting plate 44 having excess openings 46,is a pair of spaced parallel attaching ears 48 that are connected by oneleg 50 of a substantially U-shaped link 52. The opposite leg 54 f thelink 52 frictionally engages suitable apertures provided in the upperends of a further pair of spaced parallel attaching cars 56 that arefixed to and extend upwardly from the support plate [8, so that thepressure plate may pivot or slide upwardly and downwardly relative tothe support plate l8.

Extending transversely through opposed apertures 58 provided in the legportion of the channel-shaped element 34, is a pivot pin 66 that ispivotally connected to the depending attaching cars 48. A further pivotpin 62 extends transversely between a further pair of opposed apertures64 provided in the leg portions of the channel-shaped element 34 and itsends are pivotally secured to the fixed upstanding cars 56 carried bythe support plate I8.

Frictionally positioned on the upper face of the pressure plate 44, is asuitable eating dish 66 having an annular flanged portion 68 that isadapted to irictionally engage the upper end l2 of the body H], to limitthe downward movement of the dish 66 relative to the body l0.

It should be noted, that there is adjustably mounted on the portion 42of arm 38, a counterbalancing nut 68 for a purpose which will later bemore fully apparent.

In practical use of the present invention, food is placed in the dish66, so that the combined weight of the dish and the food therein willcause the pressure plate 44 to be extended downwardly, thus pivoting thearm 38 upwardly and the arm 43 will frictionally engage the upper edge26 of the support plate 24. In this position, the braking arm 28 for themusic box 36 will be extended downwardly in its normal position andsound will not be emitted from the music box.

As a certain amount of the food is removed from the dish 66, thecounter-weight 68 will overbalance the weight of the dish 66 and theremaining food in the dish 66, so that the arm 38 will pivot downwardlyin the guide opening 22, and the arm 43 will pivot upwardly tofrictionally engage the braking arm 28, to force the same upwardly thusactuating the music box and a musical sound will be emitted therefrom.

Obviously, by adjusting the counter-weight 86,

the device may be regulated for actuation by varying amounts or quantityof food that is removed from the dish, so that as an infant becomeslarger it will be necessary for more food to be removed from the dishbefore the music box is actuated.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as newis:

l. A musical eating bowl comprising a hollowbody open at its upper end,a pressure plate mounted for upward and downward movement in said body,a. music box mounted in said body including an outwardly extendingbraking arm normally in a lowered position, means for actuating thebraking arm to a raised position for activating the music box, meansoperatively connecting said actuating means to said pressure plate, andmeans for normally holding the pressure plate in a lowered position andsaid actuatin means disengaged with the braking arm.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said actuating means includes apivotal lever.

3. A musical eating bowl comprising a hollowbody open at its upper end,a pressure plate mounted for upward and downward movement in said body,a music box mounted in said body including an outwardly extendingbraking arm normally in a lowered position, an elongated pivotal leverfor actuating the braking arm to a raised position for activating themusic box, means for guiding and limiting the pivotal movement of saidlever, means received on the lever for adjusting the center of gravityof said lever,

means operatively connecting said actuating means to said pressureplate, and means for normall holding the pressure plate in a loweredposition and said lever disengaged with the braking arm.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said means for adjusting thecenter of gravity of said lever includes an adjustable counter-balancingmember carried by said lever.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said means for normally holdingthe pressure plate in a lower position includes a dish filled withedibles, said lever over-balancing said pressure plate and the dishsupported on said pressure plate upon removal of predetermined quantityof edibles from the dish.

6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said means operatively connectingsaid actuating means to said pressure plate includes a pair of bearingplates fixed to and depending from said pressure plate, a further pairof fixed bearing plates mounted in said body, and means pivotallysecuring said lever to said first-mentioned pair of bearing plates andpivotally and rockably securing said lever to said further pair ofbearing plates.

'7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said means includes a removableU-shaped member.

8. Means for actuating the braking arm of a music box comprising ahousing adapted to receive a music box, a rockable lever mounted in saidhousing and including a pair of end portions, one end portion of saidlever adapted to engage the braking arm of a music box, a counterweightadjustable on the remaining end portion of said lever and normallyurging the other end of said lever upwardly against the braking arm of amusic box, and a pressure member acting on said lever and retaining thesame out of engagement with the braking arm of a music box.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said rockable lever includes athreaded portion receivably engaging the counterweight.

10. Means for actuating the braking arm of a music box comprising ahousing adapted to receive a music box, a rockable lever mounted in saidhousing and including a pair of end portions, one end portion of saidlever adapted to engage the braking arm of a music box, a counterweightadjustable on the remaining end portion of said lever and normallyurging the other end of said lever upwardly against the braking arm of amusic box, a pressure plate, a pair of ears depending from said pressureplate, a U-shaped pivot link having one leg engaged with said ears, afurther pair of ears mounted in said housing and engaging the free legof said pivot link, and means securing said first-mentioned ears to saidlever.

JEANNE PICARD MAHAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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